A 22 yr old's worst enemy...ALCOHOL

aknep3

Okay, so being that I am 22...you could say alcohol definately exists in my...stomach. I enjoy it and don't really wanan give it up, but if it's genuinely making a difference, i can try! So these are my questions...

1.) Has anyone cut it out to see what a difference it would make? Did it truly make a difference?

2.) Has anyone found a way to enjoy a drink and no let it affect your goals?

3.) Has anyone made any slight changes in their favorite drink that made it better for you (certain drinks that aren't bad, etc.)?

Any insight would be much appreciated! Thanks!

craft338

how much and what do you drink? if u drink every weekend, maybe cut down to every other weekend, or something like that. beer is pretty bad too, no matter how well you eat or exercise, beer is not good for a diet. i can't have red bull n vodka anymore which sucks, so i'll have a couple glasses of wine instead. plus, it makes me look classy lol

thecanface

cutting beer out has made the BIGGEST difference!!!

Abells

Hey girl -- story of my life!! I am 26 years old. I gained a crap ton of weight through college and still outta college. I hit 151 on February 6th and I was like that is it! I was also always super bloated. I exercise a lot so I knew I had to do something else. I play 4 sports (rugby, softball, soccer, volleyball) and I go to the gym. I knew alcohol was a factor so I stopped drinking. I lost about 10 pounds. Now I rarely drink but once in a while I do but learned to cut it and I am still losing weight for sure.

Some people say it doesnt help but trust me it does cause I saw a difference. And I am less bloated. If I do drink now I stick to straight liquor. I used to drink a lot of beer, now I'll have something like Jack on the Rocks. Also, if you drank for that "drunk factor" it's good to stop drinking. I have on jack on the rocks and I'm feeling it. Plus you'll see how much money you save

marthamae813

Limit yourself to like 1 or 2 drinks. If you know your gonna drink, exercise more. Try and limit drink to special parties or once or twice a month.

JPod279

Alcohol is very bad for your gut and *kitten*. No two ways about it. When I was in college I actually didn't care for beer much so I was always drinking mixed drinks and I saw myself put on a lot of weight. Cut it out and saw a drop off. You do at least now have the option of low carb beers that weren't around when I was in college, which was 90-96 (Yes, I was on the 6 year plan but at least I eventually graduated ) and those are good alternatives.

angryguy77

Avoid beer. Mixed drinks like Capt and diet, screw drivers, I guess would be the best bet. At 22, you should be ok as long as your not eating bad and drinking. I'm not an expert, but it worked for me in college. I had a lot of fun, but I didn't get the beer belly because I worked out and didn't eat too bad.

missnikkisays

Hey! I'm 24 and I love my drinks Mainly for a way to socialize. I did cut out alcohol my first month of my exercise program, and I went back to drinking the last two months. I am currently not drinking again. So far I've lost a total of about 38 pounds. 17 pounds came from the first month. I'm not saying it was all due to not drinking alcohol, but I can say it helped. If you try it, take it a month at a time and slowly bring it back in. If I drink now, I will have a glass or wine (100 calories for red wine) or a rum and diet coke (80-100 calories).

I hope this helps!

aknep3

Thanks for much for the advice! I have been tryin to cut down on beer but I really like it so it's tough! but your post may be the motivation i need! Thanks again!

amielcampbell

it makes a HUGE difference, i stopped drinking and lost 10 pounds almost IMMEDIATELY! Now I am exercising more and counting calories and i would rather eat something YUMMY than waste my calories drinking all the time! Save the alcohol for special occasions!

Geminieve24

I like to get my drink on and when I do I will have like sugar free red bull and vodka and rum and diet coke. Don't drink those "girlie" drinks, they are loaded with sugar! I also like my wine (umm the bottle please) and I will have white wine. Drink plenty of water and for me I have found that if I go out and drink too much it about what you eat the next day. If you're hung out, have a fruit smoothie and maybe a whole bagel to soak up the alcohol in your system. Stay away from late night Denny's!
And stay away from beer and other carbonated alcohols like Zima's and Smirnoff (lots of sugar)
Hope this helps

chantel14

I would cut it down but still enjoy it once in a while. I limit myself to drink once a week and there are better options out there. I usually drink either a low cal beer like Bud 55 select, a glass of wine, diet coke and vodka, or they have this skinny girl margarita that's really good.

zmonster_33

YEah i an attest to the the post above. I used to be a pretty heavy alcoholic, but after giving it up and working out a lot (and i mean a lot) i lost 40 lbs. Of course i probably could have lost weight while still drinking, but not at the consistency that i did without it. I still enjoy some brewskies now and then, but i do notice some water weight the next morning and of course the inevitable feeling of being bloated. I am about to switch back to drinking some pure liquor instead and just on occasion, to see if that effects the water weight as much and the bloatedness. Good luck!

Victorian131

Yeah, Im 22 and in my final year of my 2nd degree. Ive cut it out for 2 weeks now, not really seeing a difference weight wise but I am definitely feeling less sluggish and bloated and I must admit its nice not to think 'ug Im gonna feel this in the morning' or thoughts that come with it. Dont get me wrong I love ale and miss it sooooo much but I have substituted my beer alowance with fruit and veg so even if I wanted to I have made it so I cant afford it! Its difficult by I must admit Im feeling better for it, if not lighter yet. I say try it and see

Geminieve24

Side note: OH TO BE 22 AGAIN! ENJOY IT!

SHBoss1673

there's two ways to really make a difference without completely depriving yourself, 1st way is to drastically reduce the amount you consume at any one sitting, I mean like going down to 1 or maximum 2 drinks (and I mean really 1 or two, not 1 or 2 triple shots), if you can do that, and keep your weekly consumption to two times a week, or maybe 3, then that would work, once you get to where you want to be, you could probably increase that to 2 to 3 drinks twice a week with little consequence. The other approach(more agreeable approach for a 20 something IMHO) would be to limit yourself to one night every two to three weeks, if you know your trend is to have four or more drinks in a night, fine, but limit the damage by limiting the frequency. Yes you'll probably stop losing weight for a day to three days after, but as a young person, your body is much more resistant than us 30 and 40 somethings (and so on) and can rebound from a bad night far faster than we can.

that's my take on it. Basically, be sensible, complete deprivation is only going to play with your head and move you closer to failure, so don't deprive, decrease, that's my motto.

Nanadena

Do you watch NCIS on television? The guy that plays McGee, Sean Murray, cut out all alcohol and is half the man he was. He lost over 25 pounds from cutting it out of his diet. I have cut it out because of the calories and it really slows down your metabolism.

njean888

I LOVE ALL FORMS OF ALCOHOL!!!!! I love my beer, my wine, and my vodka. I have no intentions on giving it up, but yes I have cut back significantly. I no longer drink wine every night. I have wine usually on the weekends. Also I try to get low calorie beer when i'm in the mood for beer. Vodka is the absolute best if you use a mixer like tonic.

I know eating right and looking good is important but so is having fun and doing things you enjoy! Drink up my friend!

dbanks80

Everything in moderation. I am a big wine drinker (use to drink it evry day) and I did try to cut it out for a month just to see if it made a big difference. I did lose 7lbs. and so I cut it the next month and lost another 7lbs.

So I began drinking and the weight loss was slower. I cannot cut drinking out of my life but I have learned to control it and drink in moderation. I just calulate it into my calories. And I pretty much just drink on weekends

jamiemh

Alcohol DOES make a difference. It also depends on what’s your vice. A glass of wine is about 4 points (1 point per ounce). If your doing Atkins a great option is gin or vodka. Try to mix with “diet” sodas or diet tonic. Also what is good… Skinny Girl Margarita! My fav is a twist to a Double O 7…. Tropicana 50…diet Sprit and vodka.,, yummy. Or if you can take it do shot or two of tequila and drink diet coke the rest of the time.
(I probably sound like a raging alky LOL)

healthyskore

I can understand that alcohol can be your worse enemy when trying to lose weight. Three of my fellow Marines lost 10 pounds in the first two weeks after we arrived here, although they were heavier drinkers. I myself lost 5 pounds in the first two weeks and have continued to lose weight by exercising daily and maintaining a better diet.

The key with alcohol is to keep it to a minimum. One a week is a good goal to achieve, if you drink a lot. If you're looking to really cut it out, try to keep it to once every month or two. The two main types of drinks that will really pack the weight on are anything with hops, aka beer, and sugary drinks. Cut the majority of those out, and you'll be well on your way to keeping the weight off.